Digest: Trans-factivist, tortilla wars, Farm Bill factions

Trans-fat vigilante: Carol Ness has a great profile of Stephen Joseph, the "Don Quixote of trans fat" who sued Kraft Foods over trans fat in Oreo cookies, and also McDonald's for not switching the oil for its french fries. Joseph was spurred to action by the death of his stepfather from heart attack. To those who claim that he's doing it for the notoriety, he says, "Litigation is the only avenue people have as long as Congress refuses to protect Americans from the excesses of corporate America. I know that when I walk into the courtroom, it's a level playing field. I know the judge hasn't been paid by the food industry." San Francisco Chronicle

Tortilla wars: Why Wal-Mart and other multinational corporations are benefiting from Mexico's "tortilla wars" over skyrocketing corn costs. ZNet

Food Bill fight: The Farm Bill debate is heating up, with "producer" states looking at the proposed changes differently from "consumer" states. A Des Moines Register article about how Iowan farmers might gain from the proposed Farm Bill is paired with an Register editorial about why the state's officeworkers should also care about the Farm Bill. Meanwhile, a Los Angeles Times editorial says that the recent blueprint for the 2007 bill is a disaster for all taxpayers that only Canada can save us from. Yes, Canada. Who's going to unite these groups and remind them that preserving farmland, practicing conservation, and encouraging crop diversity is in the interest of all Americans?

Not Tso: General Tso's chicken, that favorite dish of takeout noshers everywhere, is an invented tradition, not actually part of Hunanese cuisine at all. But the story of how it came to be is an interesting tale of civil war (China and Taiwan) and exile. New York Times

Double occupancy, half carbon footprint: Green-minded travelers can stay in "eco-friendly" hotels in the U.S., but some chains are bigger on talk than they are on execution. Boston Globe